My Most Recent Ride 2015 (Part VIII in a series)

Beautiful!

Wind rippled water​

Our leaves have finally fallen.. mostly. A few are still clinging on here and there. Some of the trees had a thick puddle of leaves around their trunks like they'd shed them all at once.

Rode 3 days in a row, in spite of the fact it felt like my legs were going to fall off for the latter 2 rides. Too much downtime over 3 weeks during Loke's recovery and tire issues and then of course, started up again with chunky, studded winter tires for maximum roll resistance!

Rested on Saturday and then headed out again today, driven by my determination to keep the neuromuscular pain from the stroke at bay. It seems riding the trike is a magical cure for it. Was riding so little and feeling worse and worse by each day, then got out on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and the muscle pain disappeared. How's that for motivation?

I need less than 24 miles to break 1000 for the year after the 10.8 miles today.

Loke loved getting out, but came home all bouncy and immediately started harassing the hubby. Clearly he needs a good 30 mile run. It will help him run off some of the pudge he collected during his 3 weeks of recovery... and me too.

Terii

 

No doubt in my mind you will get 1,000 miles this year.

 

Arizona Riding

I so enjoy your adventures. I have been putting other things like housework and yard work ahead of my own rides, but that is changing as of this week! Thanks

 

Thanks!

Admittedly, over the past 3 weeks, I've discovered that riding isn't just 'fun', but perhaps critical for me. My scarce rides during Loke's recover left me with neurological pain from my stroke, bad enough that something like trying to cook muffins left me crumpled on the couch.

2 rides over 2 days and I'm almost back to how pain-free I was before Loke's surgery. Gotta keep riding at least 2, preferably 3 times a week it seems. Motivation!

Terii

 

The older we get the more we need to move to stay out of pain. I KNOW!!!

 

You don't know what you think you know.

What do you know? If you knew, you would know you don't know. So don't say you know when you don't know what you don't know.

 

I knew that...even as young as I supposedly am. Why I am still learning...so one day I will know that I know more and still know that there is more to know.

 

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."
--- Leonardo da Vinci

There is some unverified evidence that da Vinci may have sketched a workable bicycle. But if he did, knowing was not enough; he didn't do.

 

Love the weather!​

Less than 12 miles to break 1000 for the year!

The past 2 days have had gorgeous weather and I've gone out for both of them. Was a bit breezy yesterday, but cloudless. Temp on the ride varied between 42 and 46 F. 7.28 miles.

Today was colder, about 36 at the start of the ride and 42 when i finished. There was frost hiding here and there where the SUN didn't reach along some of the cycle roads. Glad I had studded tires or one descent might have gotten a bit too exciting, especially for Loke, if I'd been unable to stop. 6.62 miles.

One thing I've noticed the last 2 rides is the sharp increase in my cadence! My 'cruising' RPM was in the mid-upper 60's and I had to push to get mid-70's. Yesterday was closer to 78-82 RPM cruising and hitting 90 for some stretches. Today was a little slower, but still higher than last week. If this keeps up, I'll be spinning faster than Tour de France competitors! Or am I delusional?

Terii

 

Unexpected frost​

I did it!!!! More than 1000 miles for 2015!!!! Only 2008 has more miles!

Loke and I took a rest day though he decided he would have liked more than my pitiful walkies about time the sun set. Honestly, I was too happy to take the break, especially with miserable weather. Below 40 F and rain interspersed with drizzle.

The first part of today was rain free. Gray, cloudy, high humidity and mid-30's F with everything sopping wet from overnight rain. It was forecasted to start raining again sometime around noon.

Loke was thrilled to get out and we started moving around 9 am. In spite of the temps, it felt quite a bit warmer and didn't even need glove until the last 3 miles of the ride when the wind kicked up. Was thrilled to bits when my Garmin showed 11.7 miles as that meant I was over 1000. Arrived back at the garage with 1000.74 miles.

I'm tickled pink. Just not sure I can pull off 6 weeks of 50 miles a week to push into my 'best ever' year.

Terii

 

Go for it. I know you can do it!!!

 

Fantastic!!! Congratulations!
Go for a record year!

 

Yeah! You go girl!

 

Congratulations! I know the feeling when you've set a goal and then meet it.

Is the primary system there actually metric, as in most civilized countries except the USA? 1,000 miles is a great accomplishment, and if you use kilometers it looks even better (1,609km). You mentioned 50 miles a week for 6 weeks (300 miles), and that might be a stretch (would be for me esp. in your weather). If you pull off a little less you can add 400 km (248 miles) and you'd have 2,000 km for the year. That's less than a round trip Uppsala to Norrkoping or three round trips to Stockholm.

 

Sweden is firmly in the realm of the metric system. Just when I ride the trike, my mind can't let go of miles. I'm not as impressed with myself using kilometres.

I've had people say, 'But it's a bigger number! That should make you feel good!' My brain looks at it as, '1000 inches is more units than 100 miles, but the 100 miles is more impressive'. It stubbornly holds onto that even when I just try to convert 10 miles into 16 km. Saying it as km just feels less even if logically, I know the distance is the same.

Had a chance to look at my past mileage and according to Bike Journal, I could count it as 'best year ever' with just 220-ish more. It shows 1220 for 2008 and I added about 4.5 miles yesterday for 1005 miles for the year now.

That would mean roughly 35 miles a week between now and December 31st. Last week was 50 miles, but if this area gets a bad streak of weather that could get nixed. Cold and snow probably could manage as I've not had to break out the serious winter gear yet and have felt fine, but some of the rainy days we've had of late would keep me in.

I might make it a soft target for a goal though...

Terii